Old Style Calendar
Before 1752 the year began on Lady Day, March 25th,. Dates between January 1st and March 24th were at the end of the year. Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) are used to indicate whether the year has been adjusted. Often both dates are used.

A constable was an elected official who was responsible for keeping the peace. His duties were more limited than the sheriff's. He apprehended and punished offenders, helped settle estates, and collected taxes.

A Puritan was a member of the religious group in the 16th and 17th centuries that advocated "purity" of worship and doctrine who believed in personal and group piety. Puritans were persecuted in England and came to America so they would be free to practice their religion.

from The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 66

House Entries In The Bishop's Transcripts Of Eastwell, Co. Kent
1603 John son of John Howse bapt. 19 June.
1605 Priscilla daughter of John Howse bapt. 25 August.
1607 Thomas son of John Howse bapt. 21 August.
1610 Sam : son of John Howes bap ye 10 June.
1612 Henrie son of John Howse bapt. 28 June.
1618 Priscilla daughter of John Howse buried 28 November.
1623 John Howse of Leneham and Marye Osborne of Ashforde was married here by license 18 September.

Canterbury Marriage License.
John House, of Lenham, saddler, bachelor, about 21, at his own government, and Mary Osborne, of Ashford, maiden, about 20, daughter of Edward Osborne late of the same place, yeoman, deceased, and now under the government of her mother, Osborne of the same place, widow, who consents. To be married at Eastwell by reason that Mr. John House [rector and] parson there, father of the said John House, intendeth to give them their wedding dinner. Dated 18 September 1623.

It is evident that Rev. John Howse had older children, who were born before he settled at Eastwell, and among them was a daughter Hannah.

On 10 Oct. 1610 a license was issued for the marriage at Eastwell of John Lothropp, M.A., curate of Egerton, and Hannah Howse, of Eastwell, virgin. Their eldest son, Thomas Lothrop, was baptized at Eastwell 21 Feb. 1612/13. This clergyman was Rev. John Lothrop later of Scituate and Barnstable in New England.

Samuel Howse, or House, brother of Hannah, was baptized 10 June 1610, and came to New England in 1634, probably with his brother-in-law, Rev. John Lothrop.

He settled at Scituate, where he married late in 1635 Elizabeth Hammond, who was born in England about 1619, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Paine) Hammond of Watertown, Mass. Their eldest child, Elizabeth House, was baptized at Scituate 23 Oct. 1636. In Lothrop's Scituate Church Records appears this entry: " Elizabeth Hammon my Sister having a dismission from the church at Watertowne was joyned April 14, 1636." Although here mentioned by her maiden name, this Elizabeth Hammond had certainly been married before this date to Samuel House, and she was called "my sister" by Lothrop clearly because she was the wife of Samuel House, whose sister, Hannah House, had been Lothrop's first wife.

In October 1639 Rev. John Lothrop and part of his Scituate parishioners, including his brother-in-law Samuel House, or Howes, removed to Barnstable.

In 1639 a Thomas Howes, or House, appears as a proprietor of Yarmouth, settling in that part of the town now North Dennis, less than five miles from the old Barnstable meeting house. He was a man of good education aud estate, served several years as deputy, and died in October 1665. He married in England about 1630 Mary, who survived him and became the fourth wife of Gov. Thomas Prence. (See Register, Volume 59, p. 217.)

His children, born in England, were: Joseph, born about 1631, Thomas, born about 1634, and Jeremiah, born about 1637. It seems possible that this Thomas Howes, of Yarmouth, may have been identical with the Thomas Howse who was baptized at Eastwell, Co. Kent, 21 Aug. 1607, a son of Rev. John Howse, and therefore an elder brother of Samuel Howse of Scituate and Barnstable in New England.

ye is an archaic spelling of "the."

Barnstable, Massachusetts was settled in 1639 when Parson Joseph Hull came to Cape Cod with and his congregation from Weymouth. A little later in the year, the Reverend John Lothrop brought his Congregationalists. They incorporated as the Town of Barnstable.

Colonial legislatures granted land to a group of settlers (proprietors) who chose how to divide the land. They had some rights of governance.